STAGE GOSSIP.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1020, 11 March 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

STAGE GOSSIP.

i THe Sadenced 'walk'and measured Stride of 1 heroes'arid 'heroin'es began 'to disappear from the' English boards in Shaks-' jleare's time, for'tho great dramatist levelled the shafts of liis ridicule with deadly force against everything that,'being " overdone," ijwß " froni'tho purpose of nature/' and'his experience, both as aui'actor and as a manager, enabled him to his sdinir

ablo.judgmeut impelled'him to reprpbatej.all, ithat,wi)3 falsfl and unnatural. On theiFronch ,'tagpj hoymrer.jtlie solemn gait suited well iwith- tlio stiff brocades of ;tlio costumes, and |thc stilted declamation of the tumid; verses; 1 and Mdle, Dumosnil seems to have been the ;"witp abandon the graye movements of her predecessors, and to nurry across.the, stage i' n a,- fqyer of . excitement, oxolaiming in i ' Merppe,"' Arrltt,, J,estmon fils—a'touch of nature- which -brought dowu, the houso, jTalma >vas one ofitlie eavliest actoi's on the iFfenelvstage to, discard the monotoiioua sing•song of the old. method of reciting'.tragic verse, and to imbue it with the accent of' •PMsionj ; 5e might uot satisfy the ears of the hypercritical, but lie was master: of his emotions,'and-.when,,; in Manlius, he pronounced the famous Qiim distui and lifted hiß dagger against Servilius,, the spectators recoiled before his attitudes: and gestures, as if the tveapoh had been, directed against their own bosoms, ,In England, Garriek had, also his predecessors, who were careful to keep' upthe laboured artifice of speech," and' of. yrhom Quin, as described by Churchill, offers ÜB.an appropriate typo i-r. s :! ".Bis,eyes in gloomy socket taught to roll. 1 ' • <: ■ 11 Hoavy-and phlcp;ma'ie he tr id tlw stige- • i Tort proud for tenderness, too dull for rage. ■ i AVhen Hector' 3 lovo'y widow Chines in tears,' Qr.Rowo's Riiyirnke dopondeot virtuo jeors. . vVith ,tho samo pagt of features bp a seou , • i TOjChjijq tjio libprtino, and court tlio Ctuoen. 11 no >; wWch without passion, | Withjust'deserthUrepWatibiiroso'." 1 '., ; Other actors were .addicted ,to', playjiy' rule and moasufe, ,but Qa'rrickborrowed, his inspiration from nature,; -His was the magnetism of genius, and he fascinated the attention ot hispdipnee, while he: played jipon their " [ 79 r"' 1 '"

fcplings like a)great musioian upon an|iiißtni : mont. In Crisp's ' "Virginius, 1 ! wliioh had; possession of the English istage until, it was superseded by-that of Sheridan 1 Knowles, Gar'rick was aecustomed.'to, electrify, the house by the tone and accent with which ha Mivered a single word, ' When/Virginia:is dragged before Appiug, Garricki.fwhoiplaycd the father,i\ißed to'stand:at'; the \yings with lna arms folded, motionless,as a statuoy while jitompeßt of- silent passion swopt oveivhia. expressive l countenance,;.and drew ajl! eyesupon hini. • Then* burning .his. ;hcad slowly rcjund until his gaze fell on Appius, lie ex-' claimed in a voice stifled iby ; emotion,' and; quivering with anguish, 11 Traitor,l" And it was so uttered that a spaam.of terror, and a; thrill of pity, ran through the entire auditory: with the rapidity-of ailightning-flash, ■■ : ■ Forithe origin of theatrical,scenery, and .we must go I back, ,to - ancient Greece, where they.seem to.have had three stage "sets" for tragedies, comedies, ,and satirioal productioria' res'pootivcly. .The first represented imposirigiedificoß; .'enriched with' columns and Jstatnes ;:the secoqd, domestic 1 habitations j and the thirdj rural scenes, recalling those in which the: festivals of the race were held, when fescennine verses *,etß : composed,. and , the j rustic satirists " pelted eaoh other.with jeata fresh as the turf below them; with aismack of, hard humour; rough as their early wine,'.' : The Greek theatre must have boon splendidly, decorated, in tho days of J/whylus;, as' was tlje Roman theatro under the'empire, whon; the mite Mitcim beoamo more gorgeous in proportion as the 'drama deolincd; and.when, as Horace tells :us, iit appealed ,to the eye instead of to the ear, ana pieces wero; produced for specta'oular'effect, with squadroos of cavalry and. battalions of infantry, with tpumplial;processions bearing tho spoils: of conquest, and with exhibitions, of giraffes,

jelephants, and. other, wild animals. ', With 'the details of the costly theatres erected by 1 ; the Consul. Scaurus and by Caius .' Curio," 1 Q'very reader of Pliny may be supposed to be. •familiar. . '',; , ' ■; - 1 ■ in England the most glorious epoch,of the drama'coincided with tlie-period in which, the stage was most destitute of decorations,; and when everything was left to the imagination of the spectators.. " Now, Writes Sir Phillip Sidney, about the year, 1583, "you isiiall have three ladies walk to gather flowers, jand .then we must believe the : stagO' to b(), a garden., By and by we hear news, of;ship-,; iwre'ck'-in. I the same place : then :w5 are.lo,. blame if we accept it not for a rock, Upon the baok: of that comes out a hideous monster with lire and smoke,' and then the miserable, jb.eholders are bound to:take it for a cave;; while in the meantime two armies fly, .in, .represented with four; swords and j bucklers, and then what hard heart will uot-reooiye.it; for'a pitched) field ?" luigo, Jones seoms to; have ibeen - one' of. ■ the • ifir&t' to furnish .the ■ English stage with!" painted cloths" in 1.605; and half aicentury later;, we find Sir William' Davdnant pleading on (behalf of.such inno-' vations, and aensuring those who , ;' "Think rieli vests kiid scenes rite oiily Jit'! ' • Disguises'for tho'waht oi art and wit," ' 'And.the author of.; a 'drama 'entitled,'''«The* Gehbrous/Enemies," played 'at'.the; King's'' Theatro'ih 1672, writes ' ■■ •';' ' , . ".Jour aged.fiitlwrs camp ,tb. plays for wit, And sat'kneo deep nutsliell's in tlie'jiit, ' .Coarse hangings the'n/lnstiad of scenes! .we're ; • j- 11 'Jtvorn, '<•?>' i i ■ .Arid Ipdd'crmmster'did the stage adorn,'' ll : Tiieso i inprcj vfiiiieniy' inet witU a 'gooti 1 Seal 'of' opposition Mm sonie'ofllie'.dramatislain the' latter part of the 'seyenteentli century, .alnd' preju|j|ces Were "aroused :

continental'nations," 1 In'! the : proiogiie 'to " TiinMdge' Wells," printed in ! 1678; :the' dramatist ooniplainß that «•_ ' ;" There is not a player but is turn'd a scout, ,1, And ovorv si'rlbblqwnils his envoys put . ' To fotcji.from;Pari3,|yenice; orfrftm.Romc^, Tho French theatre had been furnished with scenery, aiid evefl With' oriiUmenta iof tapestry, as far baclc'aS 1561, atid a century later Bettertonwas senfc;tor Paris by Charles the Second, in order' that\he'might,,obserye for himself were andimonnteS,!aiid,'profit by'thoinformation' thus pbtained on ,his return,,'.' On'the" occasibn of the "performance of tlie,', ? ',]Baliet Co-' mitiuedo lailoy," .in celebration, of a .noble marriage in Parifi' in 'lsßl, ire rtad'of a grove of natural trees,' covered ivith 1 their'protect-' ,ing divinities,.being brought upon the stage, of gods 'seated/upon golden eloiitls/ and "of other l iceniej riitirvels; Fifteen jrearß' I & pastoral' calledI*' 1 *' Aritmine" was performed at tho.Ohateau of Nantes, a sea fight |.toqls place ypon real wateif; Andromeda fia seen chained to a rriclcj and the m'oiSster'approaching to deVoiir wliilb Perseiifi de-' scendod to give .b'attli'tohim, and to'resoue the ydiifl'g lady'frotA 1 her borlU' ous position. The first mention of a 'liv'e horse;beingljiadeiiseof forthis'purpose'ffas in 1682,'when,'iri order to' ißxcite,'the ardotir of the noble animal, he was subjected to" 'a preliminary 'fait, and' a 'tnisii'. of" bay mi placed at one of the wings,, in hi8 l "aiiiciety, : .ttt got at' which '"fie" ieijjhed, 'and'Mmped'his. bit, and caracoled, to the great delight of,the : spectators," " ~' In,theeigh|eonth.century i]\snistenjctiii • b00 ,?% most of the great contineintal theatres.,, Italian wa£ painters, anc}, re. upectivo branolios of art" and meohanis'nv

for'toe hid been brought to a high degree 1 ;of ( perfection.in La Scala, San Carlo, La [Ventce; dnd' La'; Pergola, and the magnitude Jot the stage in : sbm^ ;; Bf 1 tlie foreign theatres , admitted .of the grouping of great masses of ai'pemiitmeraries' 'and' 1 of the' attainment' of impMing.elJentf as regards distance and perspcotive. Stage? furnlturo .and properties were until qhite'recently of'a 1 'very 1 make. ibelieVe'eh'araeter.'thfe reasoh' being', perhaps, that tliii attentiijii' of thfi; spectators was formerly so completely : absorbed by the excellence of the dialogue,'the; interest of : the ; 'dramatic story which' 1 wis'' being unfolded, the striking character of the situation,'and the fine quality of the [ieting, that they bad no eyes for anything elsol" But the upholsterer 18 now ja' personage of as much importance as the'dramatist, while we not unfre.quoptly Anymore to admire in the costume 7 of the actress than in hcl\'perforlhahce ofthe character she has .undertaken to sustain:-' 'An'djif the mixta' theatre' cariiiot boast a fiarriclc or a Siddons, of a Talma or A Rachel, I '' we must endeavour to extract-what cbiiso- 1 lation we can froijj the fact that are pri* .vijeged _to r witness 1 tlife' representation 'if-: 'di'ainasiji'which thero' jii*e tfeal'toashirig tubs ahd'genuiqe soap-sudsj,'a 'rough-and-tumble' fight between two women of the lower orders, : and other realistic to heighten the illusion of the scene, and to "hold,as 'twere, the mirror tip to- nature," in the back' kitchen,—77/tf Afgtts (Melbourne). ;>Fanoy::GoJjs a-lono WAY.-Swcil: .fIW of Hitter, please.—Facetious BarmanSfcs, Sir.— Swell (haying,| druuk,'tlia ale),;'. That wasn't letter, wasiit?,-Facetious Barman; I belieye isq,, sir.. If it, w/jsa't you must i'ancy 'it was ! ;Swell:.;Oh, ycrylwell. Faiicy Tvo" paid for it jtooj will you? aa^.' J ■ 1 ; >